Vice President Chen Chien-jen (é³å»ºä»/CNA file photo)

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) Taiwan is committed to working with like-minded partners to solve global health challenges, including the fight against infectious diseases, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (é³å»ºä») said Tuesday.Since 2015, Taiwan has been collaborating with the United States through the Global Cooperation and Training Framework to hold workshops on the prevention of epidemics such as dengue fever, Ebola and Zika, Chen said.He was meeting with a visiting delegation led by the son of late Italian physician Carlo Urbani, the World Health Organization (WHO) officer who identified the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus in February 2003. Urbani later became infected with the virus while treating SARS patients, and he died in Bangkok on March 29, 2003 at the age of 46, due to complications.Urbani's early warning to the WHO touched off a massive response that helped save millions of lives around the world, Chen told the physician's son Tommaso Urbani.Noting that this year marks the 15th annive rsary of the SARS epidemic, Chen said that as one of countries that were hit by the disease, Taiwan is committed to the efforts to improve public health and prevent the spread of diseases around the world.In 2014, Taiwan donated funds to the WHO and equipment to frontline medical personnel in their fight against the Ebola outbreak, the vice president said.As a responsible member of the international community, he said, Taiwan is ready and willing to contribute funding, medical expertise and technology to enhance health security around the world. (By Yeh Su-ping and Ko Lin)Enditem/pc